


Renewing

by Starbird



Series: Someday Out of the Blue [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Because RebelCaptain, Bodhi's Therapy Dog Raymond, Cassian and Jyn Ignore Their So-Called "Roommate Rules", Daddy Issues, Dads and daughters, F/M, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Fluff, Isobel Really Wants a Dragon, Jyn Changes Back into Who She Used to Be, Jyn and Cassian Bicker Like an Old Married Couple, Moms and Daughters, Oral Sex, Porn with Feelings, Rebelcaptain - Freeform, Relationship Issues, Smut, families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-12-31 08:07:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12128172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbird/pseuds/Starbird
Summary: Cassian, Jyn, Isobel, and Nina learn how to be a family while still dealing with past problems.**Part 3 of a 3-part series.**





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happier times ahead, promise. Have some pure family fluff. You all deserve it after what I’ve put you through. Thanks for trusting me on this crazy journey together. <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassian and Jyn bicker like an old married couple and start pushing the limits of their established “roommate rules.” The saga of Isobel’s (lack of) dragon continues.

_Two Weeks Later_

 

“Jyn? Jyn… _Jyn!_ ”

“WHAT!” Jyn shouted back at the bottom of the stairs.

Cassian came to the bannister and curled his fingers around it. “Why do all my clothes smell girly?”

Jyn rolled her eyes. “You’re freaking out about _that_?”

“Should I not be? I am going to smell like a woman.”

Jyn turned back to the kitchen. “You are not. I use those little scent bead things. It’s called Calming Waterfall or some shit like that. Do your own laundry if you don’t like it.”

Isobel and Nina, eating bowls of cereal at the breakfast bar, clapped their hands over their mouths simultaneously.

“Mommy said a naughty word,” Isobel said from behind her hands.

“I did,” Jyn admitted.

Cassian came down the stairs and into the kitchen. He had greatly exaggerated the smell of the scent beads. “Your mom says a lot naughtier things than that.”

“Helpful, Cassian. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He opened the fridge door and stared in. “Jyn, what is…what is _this_?”

Jyn looked over, then made a face. “Oh, I made that three weeks ago. Don’t, don’t eat that.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to.” He removed the offensive item from the back of the refrigerator and dumped it into the trash can. “Growing a biology project in there for your parents’ nerd friends?”

“As a matter of fact, I was,” Jyn said. “I was trying to isolate a specific strain of bacteria that keeps men’s dumb thoughts to themselves.”

Cassian shut the fridge. “I doubt anyone would find that useful.”

Jyn rolled her eyes again and shook her head. “Again, with the man-comments. If you mansplain to me, I really will punch you.”

“I’m just going to get out of your way this morning,” he said, and sidestepped her.

“He doesn’t smell like a girl,” Nina said. “My mommy smells like a girl.”

“Mm,” Jyn replied. She turned her back to the girls so they wouldn’t see her expression. Cassian and Carly, his ex-wife, were currently talking through Nina’s living situation and if she’d stay in California or move out to Massachusetts with Carly’s new job. Jyn was hoping it didn’t turn into a custody battle.

“Miss Jyn smells like a girl, too,” Nina said from behind her. “She smells pretty.”

Jyn filled up her coffee cup and turned back with a smile. “Thanks, Nina. Your daddy has good taste in perfume.”

“Can I please have some? Pleeeeaase?”

Jyn set her mug down with a laugh. “Sure. Let me go get it.”

“Jyn, weird – ” Cassian started from behind her as she passed him to go up the stairs. He followed her up and into her bedroom.

“Hey,” she said. “You’re supposed to be downstairs supervising. You’re also not allowed in my bedroom.”

“They’re eating cereal,” he said. “What kind of trouble are they going to get into?”

Jyn pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you dare say that. You’re tempting fate. You’re _tempting fate_ and I won’t have that in my house!”

“Am I wrong?”

“You _are_ wrong. Last weekend you said that, and Tooka is still traumatized because they tried to make him into a fucking dragon.”

“Well, maybe if you’d buy Isobel a proper dragon – ”

“The dragon she wants is $35 plus tax,” Jyn said. “It is an unreasonably priced piece of crap.”

“That sounds like a dragon with integrity, if you ask me.”

“Which – surprise – no one did.”

“Just get her the dragon.”

“She’s not getting the dragon.”

“Even on sale?”

“It doesn’t go on sale,” Jyn said. “Not ever.”

“Fine, I’ll buy her the dragon.”

“You are not going to win her affection via overpriced dragon.”

“I don’t need to,” Cassian said with a rather large smile. “I already have it.”

“What can I say?” Jyn said as she pushed away from her bed and crouched down next to her dresser. “She is her mother’s daughter. She has terrible taste in men.”

“Oh, come on,” Cassian said. “I’m not so bad.”

“Again with the unsolicited opinions!” Jyn pulled out the perfume bottle and stood up.

“Right, like Mike was such a winner.”

“He did suck ass in the end,” Jyn agreed. “He made love like an overly excitable seventeen-year-old boy who just started having sex for the first time.”

“I just love hearing you talk about having sex with other guys,” Cassian said, leaning against the wall. “Really great conversation. So how’d I measure up?”

Jyn gave him a derisive look. “You’re not even _trying_ to be subtle.”

“Oh, that wasn’t subtle enough?”

“I am not playing into your praise kink right now,” Jyn said, brushing past him on her way out. “Come on. It’s too quiet downstairs. That means they’re probably up to something – ”

Cassian caught her around the waist and pulled her back into the bedroom and against his body. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder. “We have a couple minutes still,” he said, interlacing their fingers.

“Enjoying your new situation here?” Jyn asked.

“Better than living with Kay, who I was always fighting with over fridge space, when we first started working. But yes,” he said as he kissed the crook of her neck, “I am.”

Jyn leaned back against him, and felt their bodies gently sway back and forth. She was already so tired, after another long week at work. She wanted to quit, but she still hadn’t figured out what she was going to do instead.

“Tired?” Cassian asked. He let go of one of her hands and slid it underneath her shirt, against her bare skin.

“Uh-huh,” Jyn replied as a shiver raced over her. She sighed out a breath, relaxing a little into his touch. His hand changed course and skated downward to the button on her shorts. “Hey.” She batted his hand away. “We don’t have time for this, plus it’s against the rules. We have to get back.”

“No, we don’t.” Unconcerned, he pressed another kiss to the base of her neck, and did not move his hand. “They’ll take care of themselves. I heard them run off to the playroom.”

Jyn growled. “This is not the time – ”

“So make it the time.” The tips of his fingers were resting underneath the lacy waistband of her underwear, stopped in their downward movement, while his hand was flat against her belly. His arm crossed her body from behind, and he pulled her back closer to him. With his other hand, he shut the door. “I’m not going to stop, Jyn. I am going to take your pants off, lay you on that bench, and go down on you until you relax. Okay?”

Jyn shook her head. “Look, the fooling around has gotten a little out of hand – ”

“Sounds good.” Cassian’s fingers had her zipper down and her shorts at her ankles before she could react, and Jyn gaped at him.

“I’m serious,” she said as she awkwardly turned around to look at him, ankles twined by her shorts.

“I know you are,” he replied, then motioned at her shorts. “Get those off.”

Jyn frowned at him, but kicked them off anyway.

“That’s better,” Cassian said, openly admiring her in her underwear. He ran his palms up her thighs and her sides, then withdrew them from her shirt and cupped her face, his thumbs running over her lips as she’d once done to him. They’d fallen into a pattern over the last couple weeks of winding up in each other’s bed every few nights and fooling around like high school sophomores who didn’t know where and what to touch, but it had all been innocent enough. Cassian seemed to be of the same mind as Jyn, that any of this was “safe,” just pleasuring each other’s bodies, but if they pushed further than that and chose to kiss, it would wreck the whole thing. The situation was already difficult enough anyway, and before they’d been able to stop themselves, they’d complicated it and made it weirder. Now, they had no way of going back; only of moving forward or staying with the status quo. So far, they’d only used their hands on each other. Jyn’s heart quickened with both worry and anticipation. _It should not be going farther than where it already is._

“You look worried,” Cassian said, one hand still cradling her face while the other rested on her hip. Jyn looked into his eyes.

“I am,” she said. “We start doing all this stuff, then what? We blow everything up? You go away again?”

Cassian shook his head and reached for her hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“But if you do?”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Jyn looked away from him and kissed his palm, closing her eyes with a sigh. “We can’t do this, Cassian.”

“Can’t do what?”

“ _This._ It’s fine to fool around, but – ”

“But what? That’s where you want to leave it?”

“No, I…” Jyn trailed off and opened her eyes. Her gaze was on a piece of art on her wall that she hated. “I have no fucking clue.” She shook her head, and nothing made sense right now.

Cassian’s hands went to her shoulders, cupping them and holding her steady. “Jyn? Jyn. We don’t have to do anything we don’t want to do. But I am going to kiss you, okay? Because we both want to do that.”

Jyn looked back at him and shook her head again. “No no, this is not a good idea, because we sort of have this understanding that that’s a no-go, that it crosses the line.”

“You need to stop talking. This is going to happen. You can’t pretend this stuff isn’t real and we’ve just been playing games here.”

“Cassian, _no_ ,” Jyn said, her heart pounding. “I can’t do this with you again. I _can’t_.”

His hands came up again to cup her face. Jyn felt her lips part, and he was _too close_. “I’m going to kiss you. We’ll figure the rest of that out later.”

Jyn didn’t say anything, but she felt her lip quiver with fear and worry and past heartbreak. Cassian’s forehead leaned against hers, and he said,

“If you want me back, Jyn, I’m yours. All you have to do is let me kiss you.”

Jyn bumped his nose out of the way with hers and pressed her lips hard to his. His arms wrapped around her immediately, clutching her tight to him. She opened her mouth to him right away, felt his tongue caress hers, heard herself moan into his mouth. This kiss was so different than their desperate kiss in his apartment. That had been hot, but everything behind it hadn’t been right. This reminded her of their love from the past. She held him, and she kissed him, and she touched him, and she missed him. She missed all the time they should have had together, and having him there when Isobel was little. She wanted him around for everything now. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being out of her life again.

Cassian broke from her and said breathlessly, “Tell me I can still go down on you?”

“Yes, yes,” Jyn said, taking a moment to catch her own breath. He kissed her again as he steered her to the small settee at the foot of her bed and lowered her onto it. Jyn was already maneuvering her underwear off, and Cassian dropped onto his knees and helped her the rest of the way. Then he plunged between her legs, not even bothering to tease her or slowly stoke her fire. He immediately used every technique and trick he knew she liked to build her up quickly, and Jyn felt her body slide further and further down the settee with the intensity of it until he was forced to remove her from the piece of furniture and lie her down on the floor. She put her fist into her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut tight as her body climbed up the peak out of her control. As she began to shake, her other hand digging into the carpet, she clamped her teeth on her knuckle, hoping to God she could keep it down. Her house was big, but not _that_ big that sound wouldn’t travel. With her hookups in the past, Isobel had always been sound asleep.

It didn’t matter. Jyn still cried out anyway as the orgasm blew through her senses. She rode out the sharp ecstasy until it began to decrease and she could breathe more easily again. Only then did she realized she was sweating. She took a deep breath and pressed the back of her wrist to her forehead.

“That was good,” she gasped. “That was really good.”

“Glad to hear it,” Cassian said as he began to redress her. Jyn let him, unable at the moment to move her legs. He kissed her navel. “We should get back downstairs. We have to go soon.”

“Yeah. Right. I’ll move in a minute.”

Cassian laughed and got to his feet, then gave her a hand up. She stumbled, and he caught her and wrapped her in a hug.

“It’s been a long time for me,” Jyn said, hugging him back and pressing her cheek against his chest. “Since anyone has really cared.”

“It’s been a long time for me, too.”

Jyn leaned back and tilted her head up to look at him. He looked down at her, and she smiled. “But at the same time…it feels like no time has passed at all with you. Like we were never apart.”

“I know.” Cassian leaned down and kissed her, and only a moment later, a little voice downstairs demanded,

_“MOMMAAY! WHERE ARE YOU!”_

Jyn pulled away. “That is definitely our cue,” she said. “We’ll get them dropped off at Luke and Mara’s, then head on over to Baze and Chirrut’s.”

“This should be interesting,” Cassian commented as they left the bedroom and began descending the stairs. “And not just because Kay texted me to say he made a seven-layer taco dip from a recipe he found on the back of a bag of generic potato chips someone left in the breakroom.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole group gets together for the first time in a long time. Jyn and Cassian share their news. Pet-friendly chapter.

They dropped the girls off at Luke and Mara’s, quickly stepped in when Mara asked the children if they’d ever shot a gun before, and declined Luke’s offer for a quick meditation and oolong tea. Jyn’s eyes were watering from the incense when they shut the door.

“He’s still wearing Lycra,” Jyn said. “I thought Mara had broken him of that habit.”

“That is unfortunate,” Cassian agreed as he unlocked his car. They both got in and drove the short distance to Baze and Chirrut’s.

When they got out, Jyn eyed Cassian’s clothes again. He was dressed in his usual well-fitting jeans, loose shirt, and jacket despite the blazing sun.

“You and your stupid jackets,” she said.

“I know how much you hate them. That’s why you still have one.”

“Do not.” Jyn ducked her head so he wouldn’t see the flush on her cheeks – the one that wasn’t from the day’s heat. She did indeed still have that jacket. She wore it on nights when she felt lonelier than usual.

“Yes, you do,” Cassian said. He pressed the doorbell. “The blue one with the hood. I keep very good track of my jackets.”

“I think you have too high an opinion of your jacket collection,” Jyn said, bouncing on the balls of her feet and looking up at the sky.

“It balances out my low opinion of myself.”

“Again with the blatant plea for the praise kink.”

“I get off on what I get off on,” Cassian said. “I am who I am.”

“And God bless you for that.”

The door opened to reveal Chirrut, holding a giant ball of fur with a permanently pissed-off expression. It was all white with orange eyes and looked like a Halloween nightmare come to life. It purred threateningly at Jyn and Cassian.

“Welcome!” exclaimed Chirrut, throwing one arm wide. He embraced Jyn, squashing Krennic the cat between them, who growled low in his throat. Then he did the same to Cassian, and Krennic let out a hiss. “Please excuse Krennic. He’s not happy to have Tarkin around. Our new kitten.”

As if on cue, a sweet gray-and-black tiger kitten pranced up and twined through Chirrut’s legs.

“Shut the door!” Baze yelled from inside. “You’re letting all the air conditioning out and the hot air in!”

Chirrut made a face and ushered them in. He accepted the bottle of wine Cassian handed him. Jyn followed Chirrut (and the wine) back to the kitchen, while Cassian broke off to go say hi to the group seated in the small living room. Jyn had seen them more than Cassian had, so she didn’t figure they’d mind if she got herself a glass of wine first.

“This is good,” Chirrut said as he opened up the wine. “This is very good that we’re doing this.”

“Yeah,” Jyn said, reaching up to the cupboard to get a glass down. Chirrut poured, and she took a drink. “We’ll see.”

Chirrut smiled and patted her on the back. “It’ll be okay, Jyn.”

She offered him a wan smile back.

Bodhi, Baze, and Kay were already chatting in the living room. Jyn took a seat on an ottoman next to Cassian, while Chirrut sat next to Baze and Bodhi on the sofa. Raymond climbed off Bodhi’s lap and flopped onto Chirrut’s for some ear rubs.

“It’s nice to do this again,” Baze said. “We’ve missed this.”

“I haven’t,” Kay muttered.

“Yeah,” Jyn said. “It’s been good to…” She looked at Cassian, who had an awkward smile on his face. Jyn mirrored it. “…reconnect,” she said to the rest of the group. “Have the old group back together again. It’s been a long time, and we worked so well together back in field ops, and I know I cut things off abruptly with Cassian and that was maybe…not…” She looked back at him. His eyes implored her to go on. They’d worked out a way to avoid talking directly about the truth for now, even though they knew their friends would be the most supportive. The truth would come soon enough.

Cassian nodded at her to go on. Jyn looked back at Baze, Chirrut, Bodhi, and Kay, all (except Kay) wearing expectant looks on their faces.

“We had sex,” Jyn finally said. “Again.”

 _“Jyn!”_ Cassian straightened in his seat and leaned his head back against the top of it, pressing his hand to his forehead. Raymond let out a doggie sigh.

“That is not what I expected,” Kay said.

“That is exactly what I expected,” said Chirrut.

“This is so awkward…” said Bodhi.

“I won the bet and you owe me money, Kay,” Baze said, gesturing with his hand. “Pony up.”

“I’m getting a drink,” said Kay. “Bourbon.” And he got up and left the room.

“So yeah,” Jyn said when everyone had recovered. “That’s what happened. Before, too. Five years ago. That’s why we stopped talking. Sex. We had sex.”

Cassian groaned and slouched.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Bodhi asked. “You didn’t even tell _me_.”

“Is Cassian no longer good at sex?” Baze asked.

Whether it was an honest question or just ribbing, Jyn could not actually tell, but Cassian groaned again and said, “Stop saying _sex_.”

“Bet you were making a lot of that sound, Cassian,” Kay commented dryly as he leaned in the doorway, bourbon in hand. “You could be _loud_ with Jyn. No one else. Just Jyn.”

Jyn looked at Cassian with her eyebrows raised. “Never knew I inspired you so.”

“You people _suck_ ,” Cassian said, getting up and heading to the kitchen. “All of you. Baze, where’s the Scotch?”

“Don’t you touch my Glenlivet when you’re mad,” Baze called after him. “That’s not for boys who are shy about their sexuality.”

_“Chingate!”_

Baze turned back around in his chair and chuckled good-naturedly. Jyn snorted at him.

Cassian came back with a tumbler of liquid and clinking ice. “Why don’t you just go ahead and tell it all, then, Jyn?” He looked at the rest of the group. “We’re not having sex _now_ , thanks.”

“Yet,” Baze muttered, and swiped his hand over the side of the couch. He came up with Krennic, who hissed at Raymond, who completely ignored him. Then Krennic thoroughly kneaded Baze’s lap into mush while Baze scratched his chin, and the cat finally settled down.

“Right,” Jyn said. “There have been some developments that have, um, made things more difficult.” She glanced at Bodhi, but she knew he’d never share what he knew. He was unfailingly loyal. “We, ah, Isobel…um, five years ago, we…” She glanced at Cassian, but he wasn’t any help.

“We get it, Jyn,” Chirrut said quietly.

“What?” said Bodhi. “What do we get? I don’t get it.”

“You really knocked Jyn up?” Kay said incredulously as he turned to Cassian. He smacked him upside the head and said, “You _moron_. You had an entire drawer _full_ of condoms and you didn’t think to use _one_? Not even one of those fancy ones with the spirals or the nubs or _anything_?”

“Can we have this conversation some other time?” Bodhi asked, looking horrified.

“This is fascinating,” Chirrut said.

“It’s not,” Jyn said as her cheeks burned again. “Are we done discussing Cassian’s condom collection?”

“I’d offer to let you borrow a few,” Cassian said acidly to Kay, “but you wouldn’t get much use out of them.”

“HA!” Bodhi said. “Oh, he got you there, Kay.”

“You people are lousy arses,” Kay replied, and turned back into the kitchen to refill his drink.

“How is Isobel doing with the news?” Chirrut asked Jyn. Cassian sat next to her in the armchair. Jyn shrugged.

“About as well as can be expected,” she said, and handed her wineglass to Cassian. He looked down at it.

“You couldn’t have asked before I sat down,” he said.

“I didn’t think of it before you sat down.”

He sighed and dutifully got up to refill her glass.

“We’ve got her into therapy,” Jyn said to Chirrut.

“And Mike?”

“I’m talking to him. He’s the one who spilled the news, rather traumatically, actually. He still wants a part in Isobel’s life, and Cassian and I have talked, and we’re coming around to it. He said he’ll start seeing a counselor, too. He’s a wreck.”

“That doesn’t excuse what he’s done,” Baze said, crossing his arms so that Krennic jumped off his lap and padded over to the coffee table where the snacks sat. He lifted up onto his hind legs, swishing his tail with interest, and placed his delicate paws on the glass tabletop, sniffing, intrigued. Baze swatted his fluffy tail. “ _Down_ , Krennic.”

 _“Rrrrrrrr,”_ growled Krennic in the back of his throat.

“And the two of you?” Chirrut said. “Are you all right?”

Cassian handed Jyn her fresh glass of wine, and they exchanged a look. “We’re taking it day by day,” Jyn said. “Cassian has…ah…moved in for the moment. Don’t you all look at me like that,” she snapped. “It’s for Isobel.”

Baze gestured vaguely. “So…when Isobel gets adjusted to the news, he’s just going to…what? Move back out?”

Jyn felt herself blush again, and she took a big drink of wine. “You people do really suck.”

Baze held up his hands in a sign of defeat, of _Just saying._

“We have _separate bedrooms_ , not that it’s anyone’s business,” Jyn added tartly. “And we’re allowed to date who we want. It’s more of a roommate situation – _don’t you dare start laughing, Baze_.”

“And the little girls aren’t going to be surprised when some other man shows up?” Baze said. “Or some other woman?”

Jyn sighed and looked down, feeling tears gathering in her eyes again. “You guys were supposed to be supportive. Not give us all this shit.”

“We just want what’s best for you,” Chirrut said in his calm voice. “All of you. We know you’ve thought it through.” Jyn heard shifting on the couch and a smack. “Baze, you are being so mean. Go pour Jyn more wine. She’s out again. Look what you made her do. She’s going to go through that whole bottle before she leaves.”

“If anyone thought she was sharing it,” Baze grumbled as he got up, “they do not know little sister at all.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family returns home from Baze and Chirrut’s, and Jyn and Cassian continue to figure things out together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter, and I hope you guys do, too.

The conversation turned away at that point to Baze and Chirrut’s foster daughter Lizzie, who was spending the afternoon with Han and Leia. Jyn felt relieved. She wasn’t sure what she had expected when she and Cassian had come clean with their friends about what was going on, but she’d thought they would be a little better about it. Although, what they’d said had come from a place of caring, and all the points they’d brought up were good. Jyn had been in thorough denial about the future. How long could Cassian _really_ live with them? Yes, they’d basically gotten back together, but…

On the drive home, Cassian was silent. Jyn was used to his silences, and usually they were companionable, but this one…wasn’t.

“Something wrong?” Jyn finally asked when they pulled into Luke and Mara’s driveway. Cassian shook his head shortly.

“I’ll go get the girls,” he said, and got out of the car. Jyn watched him as he went up the walk, chatted briefly with Luke, and retrieved Isobel and Nina. They babbled on about what fun they’d had, and they were still in one piece and not talking about anything insane Mara had tried to pull, and it seemed like it had gone well. Isobel had stayed with them before, but Jyn always worried just a little having Mara around little children.

“Good thing Mara has Luke to rein her in, eh?” Jyn said as Cassian backed out of the driveway and turned the car home. _Home…_ Yes, it was their home. _Their_ home. Meaning Cassian’s home, too. _For now…_

He didn’t reply again, except to speak with Nina in Spanish occasionally, mostly just to translate a word as she taught the fascinated Isobel.

“I wonder if they’ll ever settle down?” Jyn said, knowing she, too, was babbling, but unable to help herself. What had _happened_? What had she missed?

Cassian didn’t reply, and Jyn didn’t try again.

When they got back to Jyn’s house, Cassian, as usual, started preparing dinner. The girls ran off to the playroom, and Jyn turned to Cassian once they were alone.

“Okay, something’s wrong,” she said. “I know it is.” He shook his head again and didn’t speak. “That’s bullshit, Cassian. What happened?”

He rounded on her. “ ‘We’re allowed to date who we want’?” he said, eyes blazing. “Is that really how you feel? Or were you just too embarrassed to tell our friends we’d gotten back together? Or are we breaking up again?” he finished snidely, turning back to the food.

Jyn’s face fell. “No, I…I didn’t mean…” She slid her hands onto his stiff shoulders. He didn’t warm to the gesture, his back still to her. “Cassian, I’m sorry. It slipped out.”

“Because you’re thinking it?”

“I’m not. I promise I’m not.”

He shrugged her hands off and knocked into her as he stepped back and opened the cabinet for the spices. “I really need the space in here to cook. I’ll call you when it’s ready.” He glanced at her. “Unless you want to go somewhere else to eat.”

Jyn pressed her lips together, hurt, probably as hurt as he was by the comment she’d unwittingly made. As she trod back to the playroom to see the girls, she thought over and over about the things she’d said at Baze and Chirrut’s. She hadn’t at all meant to be hurtful. Why had she even defended her and Cassian’s choice to live together for the girls?

 _Because they pointed out the truth,_ she realized as she put on a smile and dropped down to play veterinarian. _They pointed out everything you fear._

Dinner was a cold event, with Jyn and Cassian not speaking to each other and only to the children. When it was time for bath and bed, Cassian herded them upstairs, brushing off Jyn’s offer to help. She cleared the dishes from the table, her eyes burning with unshed tears.

 _I fucked up,_ she thought. _I fucked it all up. Two weeks, and I fucked it all up._

She threw her wineglass into the sink, where it smashed into pieces.

 

Once Isobel and Nina were in bed and the house was quiet, Jyn stormed to Cassian’s room – _the guest room_ , she corrected. Not Cassian’s. He didn’t have a room here.

 _He shouldn’t have his own room,_ Jyn thought as she pounded her fist once on the door, unable to help herself. She’d meant to knock quietly, but she couldn’t. _It should be_ our _room._

Cassian opened the door. “What?”

“We’re going to talk about this,” Jyn said, “because that’s what couples do.” She walked in and closed the door behind her. “I’m sorry about what I said. It was a stupid, senseless, asshole thing to say after I took you back this morning. I’m sorry, and you need to forgive me for it because everyone fucks up and this is still new and we’re both terrible at relationships anyway.”

“I know we are,” he said. “I just didn’t see why you felt the need to say it in front of everyone.”

“I don’t know, either. I didn’t mean it.” Jyn stepped up to him, hoping he wouldn’t back up and reject her, and slid her hands over his cheeks to cup his jaw. “I don’t want anybody else, Cassian. I never have. I promise.”

"Okay." He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, his fingers closed over her wrists. “I don’t, either. Never.”

Then he kissed her, and one arm moved down to encircle her waist and pull her closer. Jyn felt the heat in the room start to inch up, and a thrill ran through her body.

“You need to go,” he said, “or I’m going to start taking your clothes off, and I’m not going to stop.”

Jyn’s response was to pull him even closer to her, and kiss him even harder. Her hands went to his shoulders and pushed his jacket down and off to the floor. He left a line of kisses down her neck as he moved her shirt up and pulled it off. His fingers skimmed over the lace of her bra.

“Pretty,” he said. “New?”

Jyn gave him a demure smile. “Maybe.”

Cassian smiled back and kissed her again, one of his hands already going under her skirt. His lips broke from hers, and she felt his breath before he spoke again.

“Do you want me to put my fingers in you?”

She yanked on his lapels, lips catching fire as they ran along the stubble of his jaw. “God, yes,” she said, and his nimble fingers flicked aside the lace of her underwear and sank inside her.

“Mm,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “Did you have another reason for coming here? You’re awfully – ”

“Wet, I know,” Jyn said. “But no. I came in here to work things out like a real, adult couple.”

Cassian pushed his fingers deeper, and Jyn gave an involuntarily grunt. “You’re going to be coming here for a while now tonight.”

Jyn moaned at his words while his other hand brushed her hair away from her shoulder and then pushed her bra above her breast so he could kiss it. His tongue gently licked the nipple before he took it into his mouth and sucked, letting out a satisfied breath through his nose as he did so. Jyn closed her eyes and rested her head on his, her fingers threaded through locks of his hair, her mind laser-focused on all the sensations she was feeling. His hair was soft in her hands, his mouth was wet and tight on her nipple, and his fingers – shit, he’d somehow quickly snuck a third one in – were deep and thick inside her, massaging her over and over. He wasn’t using a rhythm that would get her off, and her hands reached over his back and clawed at his shirt when she realized he was just messing with her.

“Cassian, don’t,” she warned. “Don’t play with me.”

He quickly curled his fingers, shooting a bolt of pleasure through her, and she gasped in surprise.

But then he withdrew his fingers and lifted his head, and he kissed her again, softly and gently, his arms around her. Jyn returned his kiss the same way, her hands unbuckling his belt, unbuttoning him, unzipping him. He helped her along, stepping out of his pants and then pulling his shirt off while Jyn removed her skirt. For a moment she let him admire the matching underwear she’d worn, and then soon he removed that, too, along with her bra.

His fingertips caressed down her body as he lay over her on the bed. Jyn held his face in her hands, one leg bent up as he lay between her legs, feeling all of him, feeling his warmth and his skin and smelling his scent and just having _him_.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long,” she whispered, her eyes opening to find his. Cassian gave her a little smile back, a breath of a laugh, and then he shifted on the bed.

Then she felt him push into her, and slide deeper, heard him catch his breath, and all she could do as the inimitable feeling overwhelmed her was tilt her head up on the pillow and squeeze her eyes shut. All that came out of her mouth was _Oh_ , a tiny gasp of a thing, and the way he felt in her, the way her body held onto him, it was like their first time. Like she’d never felt him before, like her body didn’t know what his was like, or what kind of lover he would be.

It might as well have been their first time.

Jyn heard him say her name, but she was overwhelmed. Too much, too many feelings, dormant for too many years, bubbled up inside her chest and spilled over. The tears from their fights, the tears over losing him, the tears from everything in the past couple years, and now, this, it all took her breath away. Tears burned her eyes and traced lines to her temples and disappeared into her hair.

“Cassian,” she said, and his hand immediately brushed her hair back at her forehead, a familiar gesture.

“I’m here,” he murmured, and gave her a kiss where his hand had just been. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Jyn held onto his shoulders, and Cassian pressed his cheek to her chest, to her cheek; his forehead touched hers; his nose bumped hers; his hands held her face and he kissed her and kissed her. It was quiet except for the hitching of breath, a gasp, a moan, a sigh, a kiss on Jyn’s eyes when her tears shone again, when he held her and told her, _Don’t cry. Please don’t cry_. He whispered her name in the darkness, as if saying it would keep her with him forever.

A question, a thought, one that had kept Jyn bitter company on lonely nights, ran circles in her mind, and she couldn’t stop it, and she didn’t want to, and this time, she wasn’t going to screw up. She wasn’t going to let him get away and move on with his life when there was no moving on, when their lives had never once moved on from one another.

Jyn bent her head to Cassian’s, her fingertips on his jaw. “Cassian,” she whispered, her voice so quiet, she barely heard it. He ducked his head down and kissed her nose to let her know he’d heard her. “Would you marry me if I asked?”

And he replied, “You wouldn’t even have to ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter made you guys very happy. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Afterwards, and the morning after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, fluff, fluff, fluff, fluuuuuuuff. Short chapter, but ’tis fluffeh. Dedicated to all you lovelies for sticking with this train wreck. Your comments are everything!!!! <3 <3 <3

After their lovemaking, Jyn and Cassian lay against one another in the bed, with Cassian cradled in Jyn’s arm on her chest, the fingers of her other hand picking up locks of his hair and dropping them back down. He didn’t break the silence, and she didn’t either.

She shouldn’t have said what she’d said. She shouldn’t have.

She shouldn’t have said it _now_ , after _so many years._

She should have said it five years ago.

What if she’d told him that she was pregnant after their afternoon together? What if she’d gone back to him? Could she have? Would they have worked it out? The questions had risen in her mind like ghosts from a fog over the years as the issue of Isobel’s paternity occasionally nagged.

“Cassian,” she finally said, “if I’d told you…”

“If you’d told me what?” he asked.

“Isobel. If you’d known…”

Cassian sighed. “There’s not an easy answer there, Jyn. Everything was a mess. But I would’ve taken care of you. Both of you.”

“We were barely talking,” Jyn said, wrapping her other arm around him and pulling him close. _Never again. Never apart again._ “All we ever did was hook up for sex.”

“Really good sex.”

Jyn laughed. “Really, _really_ good sex. You are incredible in bed.”

He didn’t say anything, but Jyn knew he was smiling. _Him and his praise kink._

“Do you really think we could have made it work?” Jyn asked. “If I’d broken up with Mike and gone back to you?”

Cassian let out a slow breath. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, really. Things were too broken. A baby would’ve…wrecked what little we had, and then we would have messed her up, too.”

“But you don’t think I made the right choice in cutting you off.”

“No, I don’t.”

Jyn looked up at the ceiling, her arms still tight around him. “So nothing I could have done would have been right.”

“It wasn’t just you, Jyn,” Cassian said. “You’re placing all the blame on yourself. I played a part, too. I just wish I could have been there for it. Even if you and I weren’t speaking, even if you were madder than hell at me, no matter what you felt, I still would have been there. I still would have supported you. I would have given you everything I had, whatever you needed.”

Jyn felt the tears again. “I know you would have,” she said, her voice breaking. Then the other question, the more nebulous one, floated up, tempting her, teasing her, daring her to ask. “Would you want to?”

It was vague, the way she asked it, and Cassian didn’t understand. “Would I want to what?”

Jyn didn’t know how to ask in a roundabout way, in a nice way, in a pretty way, in a beautiful, Hallmark-movie way. So she blurted, “Would you want to have a kid with me again?”

Cassian’s head jerked up from her chest, and he looked into her face. He wore shock on his. “Why are you asking, Jyn? Are you trying to tell me something?”

She shook her head and palmed away tears. “No, it’s just…you missed everything, and I wish you could have been there, and…”

“Jyn.” The word was matter-of-fact. “That’s not a reason to bring another life into the world.”

She shook her head again, harder this time. She wasn’t making sense, wasn’t being clear at all. “No, I know. But I _want_ to. I want to…” And she trailed off, unable to finish, unable to speak the truth and desires deep in her heart.

Cassian shifted in the bed so he could take her hands. “ _Amor mio_ , look at me,” he said gently, and Jyn did, her eyes still watering. “Of course I would. I told you before that I always wanted a family with you. But we’ve…we just had an argument not even three hours ago about you saying we could date other people and that being a slip-up, and then what you said when we made love, and we’re _barely_ in this relationship again. I love you, more than anything, but I don’t think now’s the right time to be having this discussion.”

“You think my mind’s going to change?” Jyn said, her throat aching, her voice thin. “You think we just met each other yesterday?”

“No.” Cassian reached out and stroked Jyn’s hair. “I would love nothing more than to have another baby with you sometime, to _really_ be a father this time, to see you grow and change and be there for all of it. I’ve missed out twice now, and as much as I love Nina, and dammit, I already love Isobel, too, I didn’t get to be a dad for them at the beginning. I just showed up later, like I was tacked on. I want to be a dad for real sometime. I do.” He moved his hand to Jyn’s jaw and pulled himself closer for a kiss. “When we’re ready,” he said, “I would love to try.”

Jyn let out a little laugh, more of a squeak, and smiled. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay. That’s all I needed to know.”

Cassian kissed her again, sweetly and softly, but then he shifted, his movements firmer, his kisses intensifying, and Jyn felt him begin to harden again, and she let out a gasp of surprise as he grabbed her and hauled her off her back and onto his lap.

* * *

A little voice, too close to Jyn’s ear, woke her up in the morning.

“Mommy,” said Isobel, and there was no judging the tone in the girl’s voice. “Mommy.”

Before opening her eyes, Jyn prayed first: _Dear God_ , _let Cassian already be up._ Then second: _And if he’s not, please don’t let this moment be real._

Jyn opened her eyes.

“Mommy,” Isobel said again. She was still in her pajamas, and the house was silent. “Why are you and Cassian sharing a bed?”

Jyn gave the girl a tight smile while cursing to herself. “I washed the sheets on the other one,” she lied, “so we had to have a sleepover.”

“Girls and boys can’t have sleepovers,” Isobel replied in a whisper, a note of horror in her young voice. “Nina said so.”

“Oh, well, this one’s okay. Cassian and I are really good friends.” And why wasn’t he waking up to help with this discussion?

“Why are your clothes on the ground?”

_Why the fuck you gotta ask so many awkward questions?!_

Jyn gritted her teeth. “I’m doing laundry,” she said.

“Are you guys going to get married if you’re having sleepovers? Nina got to be the flower girl at her mommy’s wedding.”

Jyn sighed and gave up. “Yes, honey. Daddy and I are going to get married.”

She winced at the slip-up, accidentally referring to Cassian as “Daddy” instead of “Cassian,” but Isobel didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, she turned away and shrieked,

 _“NINA, WE’RE GOING TO BE IN A WEDDING!”_ and streaked off down the stairs. Cassian bolted upright.

 _“Fuck!”_ he said, covering his ears. “What did I just miss?”

Jyn sat up and clutched the sheets to her naked chest. “Me trying to explain boy/girl sleepovers and you and me getting married.”

“Oh, good, so nothing terribly important.”

“Get up,” Jyn said, pushing at his shoulder. “I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is about to wrap up within probably the next chapter, and I'm planning an epilogue as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike, Jyn, and Isobel have their first visit since the blow-up. Isobel and Cassian have a serious talk over her new dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter before the epilogue, guys. Tear-jerker.

Isobel didn’t say anything more that morning, or any morning after as the weeks passed by. Jyn texted with Mike about staying in Isobel’s life, and went to one of his counseling sessions. Cassian had eased up his view on keeping Mike out, and in general, things were going in the right direction. A couple months after Cassian and Nina had moved in, Isobel, Jyn, and Mike got together for a visit at the zoo.

“Hi, Daddy,” Isobel said when she saw him, approaching warily. In the background, sea lions hooted, but Isobel didn’t laugh at them as she usually did. Mike smiled, and Jyn’s heart twitched at the pain in his eyes. He’d lost weight, and even his face had slimmed down.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said. “How are you?”

“Good,” she said, shuffling forward. “Can I still call you Daddy?”

“You can, baby doll. Can I pick you up?”

“Uh-huh.”

Jyn stood back and watched as Mike picked Isobel up. A sea lion splashed into the water, showering them with droplets. They didn’t even seem to notice Jyn was there.

“Oh, it feels so good to have you back in my arms,” Mike said into Isobel’s face as he held her tight. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Isobel said. “Ashley said it’s okay if I still call you Daddy.”

Mike nodded. Jyn had filled him in on Isobel’s counselor. “I’m glad,” he said. He pulled back, and Jyn saw the struggle on his face, the way his smile faltered a little. “Are you happy at home? I hope you are.”

Isobel nodded, fidgeting with the necklace she wore. “Yeah. It’s weird having a new daddy, but I like him a lot.”

Mike nodded, put Isobel down, and patted her on the back. “Let’s get this zoo trip underway. It’s been ages since I’ve seen some penguins, and I need a fix.”

Isobel trotted off to the doors leading to the penguin enclosure, glancing worriedly at Jyn and Mike as she went. They followed behind, close enough that they could keep an eye on Isobel, but far enough that they could talk privately.

“I’m glad things are going well,” Mike said.

“Are you?” Jyn replied, not looking at him. She saw motion out of her peripheral vision, felt Mike take her hand. She looked over at him, her mouth set, too many emotions in her right now. Mike was smiling again.

“I am,” he said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Jyn. Your happiness. It’s my fault I walked out. I saw that text from Cassian on your phone, and I lost it.”

Jyn frowned in confusion. “What text? When?”

“When Isobel was one,” Mike said. “Before I…” His voice faltered a moment, and he looked away at the waddling penguins. Isobel had her nose and fingers pressed up to the glass. “Before I walked out. It popped up on your iPhone when you were in the bathroom, and I saw it. It was from Cassian, something about ‘what we did was a mistake, but we can work past it,’ and I knew. I just knew something had happened when you went out to see him. It was always in the back of my mind that something may have happened, because you weren’t acting right, and you didn’t want to have sex even though we were trying to have a family. And you always… I knew you still loved him, Jyn. I knew you always would. Even when you said you loved me. In the back of my mind, I always knew you’d go back to him.”

Jyn didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything.

“So are you back with him?” Mike asked.

Again, Jyn kept her silence.

Mike nodded. “Okay. Well, just let me know when I can see Iz and not make things weird or worse or…” He tugged on her hand, and Jyn looked over at him. His expression was open, sincere. “I want to stay out of your way, Jyn. I don’t know what I was...a, a placeholder, maybe, but I don’t want to make things worse. I’ve already done so much damage. I just hope…” He squeezed her fingers. “I hope you don’t hate me. For everything I’ve done.”

A little smile came to Jyn’s face. “I forgive you, Mike. I just hope you’ll forgive me.”

“I do. It took time, but I do.”

Jyn shrugged, rueful. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

Mike nodded again. “It wasn’t meant to be.” He paused. “Misti and I…um…we’re not together anymore. She was critical of you, and she got mad at Isobel for stupid stuff, and Isobel still thought she was great anyway, and I just don’t need that in my life right now. I mean, anyone. I need to be by myself, sort my head out.” He looked back at Isobel, laughing and whooping as the penguins sped back and forth underfoot on the glass floor. “Spend time with my daughter.” His voice caught on the last word, and he turned back to Jyn. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t call her that. But I don’t know what else to call her.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Jyn said. “One day at a time.”

Mike smiled and squeezed her hand again. “One day at a time.”

 

Isobel was uncharacteristically silent on the ride home. Jyn glanced at her in the rearview mirror, but the girl just stared out the window.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Jyn asked. “Did you not have a good time with Daddy?”

“I did,” Isobel said, a note of wariness in her voice. “I just don’t know what to call Cassian now.”

 _Hoo boy_ , Jyn thought. _This discussion._ “You can call him whatever you like,” she said. “Or not call him anything at all. I know you don’t know him very well still.”

“I wish I’d just had a real daddy.”

Jyn felt her chest clench, and her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I know. I wish you did, too.”

“I guess I could call him ‘Daddy Cassian,’ ” Isobel said. Jyn was careful to keep herself neutral as the girl spoke. She didn’t want to spook her. “I’m afraid of calling him just ‘Daddy.’ ”

“Why’s that?”

“Because the last time I had a daddy, he went away and wasn’t even my real daddy. What if Cassian goes away, too?”

Jyn smiled and searched out Isobel’s eyes in the mirror. “I don’t think Cassian’s going anywhere, honey. We’re getting married, remember?”

“And I get to be the flower girl? With Nina?”

“That’s right. Both of you.”

“Are you going to dress up like a princess?”

Jyn laughed. “I don’t know about that. I’m not very princessy.”

“Well,” Isobel said, slouching down in her car seat and crossing her arms, “all’s I can say is there had better be a dragon.”

 

When Isobel got home, there was. Nina presented it to her, with Cassian smiling in the background as he sat on the floor of the playroom amongst at least twenty toys.

“MY DRAGON!” Isobel yelled, grabbing it from Nina and jumping up and down. “MY DRAGON, MY DRAGON!”

Jyn looked up and caught Cassian’s eye. He looked delighted, but there was also a bit of a cat-caught-the-canary look about him. Jyn glared.

“And what’s this about?” Jyn said.

“Does there have to be a reason?” Cassian asked.

“For a dragon that expensive, yes.”

“I just thought with the visit today – ” Cassian started, but before he could finish, Isobel launched herself into his arms, nearly knocking him over.

“Thank you,” she said, pressing her little cheek into his shoulder. “I’m not brave, but my dragon is.”

 _“Por nada, cariña,”_ he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her. When she pulled back, he said, “How did it go? Was everything okay?”

“Yes,” Isobel said in a tiny voice, her eyes on the dragon as she fidgeted with it in her hands. “Daddy Mike still wants to see me.”

Cassian’s eyes flicked up to Jyn’s. It was the first time Isobel had said “Daddy Mike” at home, or acknowledged to Cassian that Mike wasn’t her real father. Jyn lifted her eyebrows and shook her head minutely, a gesture of _I know. This is all her._

“Are you really going to be my daddy?” Isobel fidgeted a moment longer, then looked up at Cassian, right into his eyes, and Jyn recognized that defiance there as all _hers_. Cassian looked right back at her.

“Yes,” he said in a calm, quiet voice. “I’m not going to leave. I’ll be here with you if you want me to be. But if you don’t, I’ll go.”

“I want you here,” Isobel said. “It’s just…”

Jyn recognized the shakiness in her voice, and she rushed into the room and enveloped her daughter in a hug.

“What’s wrong, Iz?” she asked, as the girl’s lower lip began to quaver. Cassian looked scared, like he’d done something wrong. Nina said nothing, hovering by the wall.

“I’m afraid if I call you ‘Daddy,’ ” she said to Cassian as the tears started to fall, “you’ll go, too. And I like you.”

“Oh, _cariña_ ,” Cassian said, gathering Isobel to his chest as she cried. She held on around his neck as he rocked her, and Nina came over, too, touching Cassian on the shoulder. Jyn couldn’t hear what Cassian was murmuring to her – to their – daughter, but he spoke softly in her ear and rubbed her back. “I’m not going anywhere,” he finally repeated as she quieted, the same thing he’d told Jyn when they’d made love again after seeing their friends a couple months ago.

Finally, Isobel leaned back, and Cassian wiped her tears with his fingertips. _“Está bien,”_ he said. _“Sí?”_

Isobel nodded. _“Sí,”_ she said, wiping her tears with her hands, too. She blinked a few times, drying her lashes, and looked at Nina. “Can Cassian be my daddy, too?” she asked, and Jyn’s heart seized up so much that it pushed tears into her eyes.

Nina didn’t say anything for a moment, frowning a little, looking confused. “I thought he already was your daddy.”

Isobel turned back to Cassian. “Will you be my daddy forever?”

“Yes,” he breathed, gathering both girls into his arms. “Always. All the way.”

And as he ducked his head between them, Jyn could see the glimmer of tears in his own eyes. She went to him, opening her arms to take in all of them, and closed her arms around them. As she rested her cheek against Isobel’s back and felt the backs of Cassian’s hands against her chest, she tried to find a word to describe the moment. She wasn’t quick enough to wipe away a tear, and it slipped down and dampened Isobel’s shirt.

Then the word came to her, and it was a far-off word she hadn’t thought of in a while. A word she had so rarely thought of before, but one that, if she thought of, always meant her and Isobel. Now it meant her, Isobel, Cassian, and Nina.

The word she thought of was _home_.

_Welcome home, Jyn._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, lovelies, hope this was worth it! Epilogue to follow soon to tie up some loose ends and add more family fluff.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jyn and Cassian have some time alone together to talk before the Ersos come over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *flinging teh fluff in teh air* Have all teh fluff! Allll teh fluffs!!

_Four months later_

 

Tooka wasn’t impressed with Mon Mothma, the white-haired, flame-tipped, blue-eyed rescue kitten Cassian had found for Isobel. Given that Mon wasn’t impressed with being squashed by a four-year-old and six-year-old all the time, Jyn thought this was a fair trade.

Tooka, after all, came out pretty well, all things considered. The girls left him alone, although he liked to sleep on Nina’s bed as if to show Isobel how thoroughly he disliked her.

“I just don’t understand how they can make such a mess in such a short period of time,” Cassian said as Jyn came into the living room. He was folding a blanket, which he put back in its place on the sofa back. He bent over and picked up the pillows and returned them to their proper places. When he turned around and saw Jyn, he smiled. “I like that skirt,” he said, and Jyn caught the mischievous note in his voice.

“You like me sitting on top of you in this skirt,” Jyn said.

“Mm.” Cassian reached out to her waist and pulled her hips to his. “I do like that.”

Jyn smiled and gave him a quick kiss.

“Do we really have to have your parents over?” he asked in a low voice, leaning down to her again. She averted her face, still smiling, but he wasn’t deterred. His lips went instead to her neck, and she laughed.

 _“Yes,”_ she said. “My mom is glad we’re back together, and that Carly gave you custody of Nina, but she’s mad I only told her last month. ‘Five months and you’re just now telling me, Jyn.’ She’s pissed. She’s going to bring some crystal to cleanse our home and restore our spirits.”

“Your mom smokes too much weed.”

“That is not an unfair statement.”

Jyn clasped her arms around Cassian’s neck. “Until then, though, we do have some free time. The girls are at Luke and Mara’s – ”

“Which I still believe is an awful idea.”

“ – _and_ I think we should take the opportunity to spend the time together,” Jyn finished.

“ _That_ is a _good_ idea.” Cassian’s hand wandered, but Jyn laughed and danced out of his reach again. He groaned in annoyance.

“Horndog,” she said, and then she paused. “You know, I’ve called you a lot of things over the years.”

“You certainly have,” Cassian agreed, and this time he pulled her to him but didn’t do anything more than wrap his arms around her and hold her.

“Some very creative things,” Jyn continued.

“Yeah, I can think of a few. I’d rather not, though.”

“Some sweet ones, too, though. Right?”

Cassian dropped a kiss to her hair. “Yes, definitely.”

Jyn raised herself up on her toes and said, “How about ‘new dad’? Can I call you that?”

Cassian froze up. Jyn waited for him to absorb the news. Slowly, he pulled back from her, his face in shock. Jyn had already been smiling all morning, but now, she let the huge grin she’d been hiding for hours take over her face, and she nodded.

“Oh, my God,” he said, and he was kissing her lips and her forehead and squeezing her tightly in his embrace again. His breath came out in a sigh over her hair. “Did you just find out?” he asked, and Jyn thought he must have been shaking because he released her, backed up to the couch, and dropped onto it.

“Yeah,” Jyn said, sitting next to him. “This morning. It killed me, having to get the girls ready and act like everything was normal.”

Cassian smiled, but he looked smug. “You really thought I wouldn’t notice something was different.”

“Oh, I knew you would. But I could try. Did you guess?”

“I hoped. How far along are you, then?”

“Five weeks.”

Cassian smiled, took her chin in his thumb and forefinger, and kissed her again. “I couldn’t be happier, _amor mio_. Actually, this is good, because if you’re going to share your secret, I can share mine, too. Close your eyes. Don’t peek, Jyn, I know how you are,” he warned.

“Fine,” Jyn muttered, putting her hands over her eyes after she’d snuck a peek to see him in the same place as he’d been before.

She heard him shift, felt him leave the couch. She felt her heart hammer in her chest, and she took a deep breath.

“Open your eyes.”

Jyn did with another smile, because she’d be an idiot not to know what he was doing. He may have been able to read her, been so good at his job that he could read _anyone_ , but Jyn knew him, too, and knew he’d been acting just a little off the past week. A little touchy, a little different, a little…of all things… _nervous_.

And now, after all this time, all these years, he was before her on one knee.

“I know you sort of asked before, months ago,” he said, “but I wanted to make it official. So…will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Jyn whispered. “Always yes.”

Cassian sat back on the sofa and took the ring out of the box. It was a simple, half-carat solitaire in a platinum cathedral setting, exactly what she wanted. He slid it onto her finger and then threaded his fingers through hers. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too,” Jyn said. “I’m glad you stuck around, even when things got bad.”

“I never thought we wouldn’t be together,” Cassian said. “I always knew we’d find each other again in the end.” His other hand came up to gently press against her belly through her shirt. “I’m happy, Jyn.”

As Jyn felt the weight of the ring on her finger and the glorious weight of their future on her heart, she smiled at him and said, “I’m happy, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well…that’s it, friends. The series finale. Thank you so, so much for sticking with this. I can’t believe it’s over. I don’t know what to do with myself! Finish something else? I guess! Your comments meant so much to me, and you really encouraged me to finish. I wish I could say here just how much all your words meant to me. I’m so glad you enjoyed this story, and that it brought you enjoyment and happiness. I hope you will subscribe to my work (on my author page) so you can see what else I write. Thank you again, all of you. <3
> 
> Another note (abbreviated from a comment to Cooper24 in the previous chapter): Some of you have expressed curiosity over what would have happened had Jyn told Cassian she was pregnant. I don't like that Jyn cut him off, and I believe Cassian would have been supportive after a lot of cursing and his form of freaking out, which probably would have come out as anger, even if he wasn't actually angry (except at himself). I'm not entirely sure what would had happened had she not. This could have gone a few different directions: first, Jyn telling Cassian but still going back to Mike, then any of the directions it could have gone with Jyn going back to Cassian, either when she found out the baby was his or sometime later. I would feel a little unintentionally egotistical (I'm not trying to be!) if I wrote an AU of my AU, but I really do enjoy the 'verse, and you guys like it, and if enough people are interested, I'll think about it. I mean, if you guys don't think I'm taking things too far, I really wouldn't mind playing some more. I love this 'verse, as angsty as it is. Of course, any of these options mean...returning to Angstville.


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